Electrical microfluidic pressure gauge for elastomer microelectromechanical systems
Abstract
We report on an electrical microfluidic pressure gauge. A polydimethylsiloxane microvalve closes at a characteristic applied pressure determined by the material's properties and the valve's dimensions. Hence, when the same pressure is applied to all valves of a heterogeneous valve array, some valves close while others remain open. The state of the array is combined with knowledge of the respective characteristic closing pressures of the individual valves to yield an estimate of the applied pressure. The state of each valve is obtained by electrical measurements, since the electrical resistance of the respective underlying fluid-filled channel increases by at least two orders of magnitude as the valve closes and its insulating elastomer material interrupts the electrical circuit. The overall system functions as a pressure gauge with electrical readout. This device would be a critical component in active pressure-regulation loops in future integrated microfluidic systems.
Additional Information
©2007 American Institute of Physics. (Received 3 May 2007; accepted 1 September 2007; published online 26 October 2007) The authors thank Alejandra Torres, Christina Morales, and Ali Ghaffari of the Caltech Micro/Nano-Fluidic Foundry for their help with device fabrication. Financial support for this work was provided by NIH Grant Nos. 1RO1 HG002644-01A1 and 1 K99EB007151-01.Files
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 9095
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:KARjap07b
- Created
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2007-10-26Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-08Created from EPrint's last_modified field